


An Unlikely Friend

by lillpon



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, backstory fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-23 07:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20004628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillpon/pseuds/lillpon
Summary: While on shore leave from the ship he was working at, young Killian met a young man who, surprisingly, touched him with his understanding.If only he could've known him better...





	An Unlikely Friend

Killian ran to the rail, watching as the men grabbed the ropes and put them around the cleats on the dock. The port was not a special sight to behold, but the mere scent of fresh and rightly cooked meat and fish made his mouth water. The few coins he and his brother had managed to collect would only suffice for a small portion of said food, but it would be enough for both of them after having survived on mere scraps and nearly rotten fruit for the past few days. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, smelling again the food that awaited him. He didn’t want the other men to see, but he was excited for this day, an excitement he tried to cover as much as possible since it was Liam’s turn to be on shore leave that time.

He opened his eyes again, watching as a few men pulled out the gangplank. Before the captain could repeat the orders for those who were staying on the ship, Liam grabbed Killian from the shoulder and gently turned him around, handing over the pouch with their money.

“Liam- what…”

“Just take it, Killian. You’re on shore leave.”

“But- but… it’s your turn, brother.”

“And I hand it over to you. Just make sure you bring back some good food, aye? I trust you on that.”

“But-”

“Jones! The older! Stop messing around and start cleaning!”

Liam smiled to his brother, rubbed him on the shoulder and took the stairs down to the kitchen without a second word. Killian stayed there staring at the stairs and then at the pouch in his hand.

“And you, little one. You have the chance to get those scrawny feet on dry land, so take it unless ya want to join your brother”, Wallace said and poked Killian on the same shoulder Liam had rubbed, not so gently this time. Wallace was grown up, strong and respected by the Captain, but he always treated the younger ones bitterly every time he had to stay on board. Killian wasted no time and ran off on shore.

He didn’t have much time to spend but he knew that the later he got the food, the warmer and tastier it would be. Actually, even cold and dry meat would be a luxury for both of them. He started venturing deeper into the village. It wasn’t any special place, humble houses and dirt roads surrounding them, the occasional cart selling fresh fruits and vegetables and other supplies. It was their first time travelling so north and Killian was excited by some of the products he’d never seen before, like various types of berries, freshly picked out from the forest. He looked at them and contemplated buying a sample for him and his brother, which meant sacrificing a portion of the meat but new tastes always excited them.

New places certainly do teach you a lesson, Killian would think later. As he leaned over a counter to look at the strange little fruits, a man snatched his pouch of what little they’d managed to collect the past few weeks.

“Hey! Stop!” Killian cried and ran after him. But the man looked strong and fast and a hungry teenager was no match for him. Reaching the end of the market to the woods, the man dared a look behind him and ran into a cart with merchandise of some kind. Killian caught up with him, only for the man to kick him backwards. Killian fell on his back, the hard ground knocking the breath out of his lungs. When he looked up again, the man had disappeared. He rested on his elbows for a few moments, despair crawling up in him. It took them weeks to collect this money, nights of lying down with their stomachs growling in the hopes of one day gathering enough to buy a decent meal.

He finally registered the merchant behind him, huffing restlessly as he tried to gather his product. Killian sighed and rose, finally looking at him. He was young, ten years older than himself more or less, thin and slightly short, with short brown hair, unruly from the whole commotion. Killian walked up to him, slightly panting, and bent over to see him picking up balls of thread, now tangled up together on the grass.

“Are you alright?” Killian asked him.

“Aye, fine. It’s just, the cart is heavy…” the young man replied in a heavy accent.

“Here, let me help,” Killian offered and helped him pull the cart straight. The young man finally looked at the boy and smiled.

“Thank you, lad,” he said and Killian nodded.

“I can help with those… thread… uh…”

“Oh, no, no need to worry,” he said and smiled again. “The better you spin them, the easier you wrap them into a ball,” he added quietly and looked down, as if he expected to be mocked about it. Killian felt a twitch of sympathy for the man. He had spent a few years in servitude himself; no kind of job was anything to be ashamed of.

So he knelt over and picked up a light brown thread, untangling it from the grass and the tiny twigs and started wrapping it into a ball. The young man opened his mouth to protest but Killian cut him off with a shake of his head and a gentle smile. The man resigned and went on with his job until everything was settled. Killian went on helping him until they were over, the work helping himself take his mind off his despair. He already felt his stomach protesting silently. He tried not to think how disappointed Liam would be after Killian would walk back on board empty-handed. Or worse, how he would try to hide his disappointment so that Killian wouldn’t be sad himself. He didn’t have the heart to appreciate the irony.

“Thank you, lad. You didn’t have to do this,” the man said, his eyes cast down in humbleness and reached down behind the cart.

“My pleasure. It was nothing, really.” Killian nodded and started to leave, not knowing where to go. He still had a few moments and he didn’t want to waste them, but his despair drove away any wish to be alone and away from his brother right now.

“Wait!” the man said, rising from behind the cart. “I… would like to give you something.”

Killian turned around, his eyebrows raised in surprise. The man reached over and stretched his hand toward him. There was a loaf of brown bread in it, looking and smelling fresh.

“Uh… no, there’s no need… I was just…”

“Please, just this little. As a thank-you. You didn’t have to help and I’m not going to starve without it,” the young man chuckled lightly before noticing that the boy’s eyes darkened.

Killian knew his despair showed and hated the pity it caused. But as he looked at the young man, he saw something else, something only Liam would show.

Understanding.

The man shook his outstretched hand towards Killian and smiled sympathetically, encouraging him to take the bread. Killian did, albeit a bit hesitantly, without looking at the man. The bread was still warm and crunchy, soft on the inside. As he squeezed it, it let out a sweet scent and this time Killian’s stomach growled audibly. He blushed and almost ran away in shame.

“Want to join me?” the man asked, then grabbed another loaf of bread from his basket and sat down on a log, nibbling at the bread silently, waiting for Killian to sit with him. Killian looked around and decided to hell with it. Liam was going to be sad anyway, and even upset if Killian told him he hadn’t eaten a crumb so that Liam could have the whole loaf.

Liam loved him too much for his own good.

Killian sat down with a sigh and tried to cut the bread in half with his thin fingers. Eventually it broke into two pieces, the one slightly bigger than the other. He placed the bigger one on his lap and took a large bite from the smaller one. It tasted as good as it smelt. He swallowed and felt his stomach finally calm down, and almost let a sigh of contentment at the food but held himself back. They ate in silence until the man noticed the piece resting on Killian’s lap and nodded towards it.

“It’s better while it’s warm,” he commented. “Better sooner rather than later.”

“I’m keeping it for my brother.” Killian replied, not caring about sharing too much. He really felt that this stranger was actually understanding. He looked up at the man.

“Your brother? Where is he?”

“Well, he’s uh… working. We live on a ship and we’re working there. I’m on shore leave today.”

“Where are your parents?”

Killian dropped his gaze again. “They’re… uh… gone.”

“Oh,” the man said and dropped his gaze as well. “And it’s only you and your brother?”

“Aye,” he replied softly.

“You know, well, after he’s done with his work you could… you could drop by my place. My father is gone too but I’ve been raised by two women who’ve loved me as if I was theirs. You’re welcome to have dinner with us.”

Killian shook his head. “Thank you, but we’re leaving today. We’re just replenishing our supplies and then we’ll leave for our port of destination.”

“It’s a cargo ship?”

“Aye, that it is.”

“Perhaps you will dock here again after you deliver?”

“I don’t know.” Killian shrugged. “I just do manual work, I don’t mess about their business.” _They get angry if I do_ , he said to himself.

“You just work on the ship? Do you like it?”

Killian opened his mouth to speak, but closed it immediately, still not wanting to see pity on the young man’s face.

“You could certainly find easier and less demanding jobs anywhere. I’ve been spinning and selling thread since I was younger than you. I can help you-”

“I can’t leave,” Killian cut him off, his eyes still looking at his lap. “I’m not leaving my brother.”

“Well, you can leave together, can’t you?”

Killian shook his head.

“What do you mean? You owe them som-”

“A rowboat my father bought from the Captain”, Killian replied fast and sternly. He had finished his bread and almost got up and ran. He scrunched his eyebrows and looked up at the man, but relaxed in surprise after seeing no pity and no surprise on the young man’s face.

“I’m sorry I asked,” the man said and dropped his gaze.

Sorry he asked? Not sorry he was looking at a child slave, someone unable to leave the predicament his own father put him in?

“My father abandoned me too,” the man shared. “I thought we were going to start over somewhere else, where his reputation wouldn’t touch him. And as soon as he found that place, he threw me away. I was very lucky to have found those women who raised me, or I don’t know where I would be now.”

Killian rubbed his hands together and kept looking at the man. “I have my brother. He’s trying very hard to be strong for me, and sometimes I think that he shouldn’t try too much for my own sake, but… he’s all I’ve left.”

“I’m sure he loves you very much. I never had more than my father, I don't even remember my mother.”

Killian tried to fight the lump in his throat. He didn’t want to think about his own mother right now.

“But I… who am I to complain? I was left behind but at least I wasn’t sold into servi-” The man cut off abruptly, realizing what he’d slipped. He looked as the boy dropped his gaze again and toyed with his shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no, you’re right. That’s what he did. There’s no good in denying it,” Killian said after a moment of silence.

“You know, I mean it. Whenever you’re close, you can always come by. We’ll be happy to welcome you and your brother.”

Killian raised his hand and wiped away the tears before they escaped his eyes. He looked around and noticed that some of the merchants had taken their carts and got off the street. Time had passed faster than he’d anticipated and soon someone would come looking for him, and he doubted it would be Liam. He got up and tossed the crumbs off his lap, securely holding the bigger bread piece on his other hand. His eyes still wet, he finally looked up at the man.

“Thank you,” was all he managed to say. He wanted to say so much more, but the lump was back in his throat and even though the man showed understanding like no other stranger had done, Killian found himself wanting nothing else than to be by his brother’s side.

The young man nodded and smiled softly. He seemed touched himself by the conversation, and Killian briefly wondered if the man had any friends at all before nodding back briefly and turning his back to him, almost running back to the ship.

He thought of his brother. He would still be hungry at the end of the day and try to hide his sadness over the lost money, but Killian felt purely good for the first time since his father left him. His money was gone and his stomach was asking for more food, but meeting that stranger who without hesitation gave him half his food made his heart swell. He had no illusions that those kind of people were easy to find, but still he looked at the bread and felt a smile forming on his lips.

Liam at least would be happy his brother got some hope back, thanks to that stranger man no less. It was only then he realized he hadn’t asked his name.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin looked as the little boy almost ran back towards the docks. He felt so sad for him, he himself was only a few years younger than him when his own Papa left him. But he wasn’t pitying him, and he hoped the boy could see that.

“Rumple?” a voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw the woman he came to respect as a mother.

“Everything alright?” he asked her.

“Aye, I just thought I could walk you back home.”

“I’m a grown man, you know.”

“Aye, I know. Who was that boy?”

Rumplestiltskin looked at the route the boy had taken, even though he had disappeared in the town. “You know, I didn’t even ask his name,” he shrugged, feeling a little guilty for not doing so.

“Oh well, you might as well meet him again”, the spinner replied.

“I hope so. I invited him and his brother to dinner.”

“Did you now?” the woman asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Aye, but they can’t come. Maybe another time, he said. He seemed like a good boy. Loves his brother,” he finally looked back to her. “Seems to love a good family.”

“We’re not adopting him,” she said with a smirk.

Rumplestiltskin laughed. “I didn’t say that.”

“Come on now,” she added. “Let’s go home, shall we?” she said, ruffling his hair.

As they walked up to their humble home, he looked around, expecting to see the ship in which the boy and his brother worked. He really wished they would meet again.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr, on October 16th 2016.


End file.
